Woodhouse, Archer , and McCann in the top 10 - Qualifying!!!

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

Wow, the Snakes are striking hard at Mid Ohio with Rookies Mike McCann and Bob Woodhouse qualifying for Sunday's race in 6th and 8th respectively. Sandwiched between the two is the third Comp Coupe in the top 10, Tommy Archer. Looks like the Viper Days Alumni are strongly represented and it is doubly exciting knowing the Dodge Motorsports RaceCar is 1/2 to 1/4 the price of it's competitors. I am pumped to see my follically challenged boss right up there with the esteemed Mr. Archer, and Mike McCann should be congratulated for his stellar run at one of the World's most demanding tracks. The race is televised on Sunday at 12:00 CST, with the Touring Class preceding it at 11 am. Get out your video-cassette recorders and tune in tommorrow. Qualifying for all Viper drivers is listed below:

a) Mike McCann 1:28.737 6th
b) Tommy Archer 1:28.902 7th
c) Bob Woodhouse 1:28.988 8th
d) Jim McCann 1:29.532 14th
e) Stan Wilson 1:30.208 18th
f) Rich Marziale 1:30.653 20th
g) Tim Wiens 1:30.678 21st
h) Sonny Whelen 1:31.053 23rd
i) Lenny Diller 1:32.523 27th
j) Mike Hartley 1:32.924 28th
k) Warren Diller 1:33.541 31st
l) Adel Elsayed 1:34.576 33rd

Note --- Whelen, Marziale, and Hartley are in GTSs.

 

[Fast Viper Dan]

Bill,
Is this race showing on speed live?
Home track for the Viper race league boy's. Defiantly an advantage.

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

It is practically live, as the Touring Race is run on Saturday, then will play on Sunday am. The GT race is at 11 ( EST ) and will be shown at 1 pm ( EST ), so a two hour delay is fantastic. For those that do not have Speed Channel , but want to keep up with the race, go to www.scca.org, then go into the Pro Racing sidebar, next select World Challenge, and once in there go to the right side of the screen and check out Live Timing. Good info in the other right sidebars, discussing the competitors, qualifying, etc. It should be fun for Viper owners, and the most dominant car in the field is the Snake. I am hoping we get some effective blocking when a Caddy is near, ha.

 

[Frank Parise]

Dodge Motorsports has made an interesting post on this web site in the VCC section. Dodge has brought back the name "Team Viper" and states that the team consists of the McCann brothers, Woodhouse, and Archer all of which are noted as privateers racing in the Speed GT series.

I wonder if something formal has occurred between Dodge and these drivers, or if Dodge is simply tooting its horn about the Speed GT series. Very surprising rhetoric though!

What can you tell us Billy P.?

 

[Frank Parise]

By the way, Ritch "Muzzy" Marziale is racing his Competition Coupe, not a GTS.

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

Haven't heard a thing, I imagine they are just tooting their horn,which in my estimation is more than fair. This car is obviously a lot of money,but it is so far under it's competition ( price wise ) , I do believe they deserve the ability to crow. I am sorry about listing Rich incorrectly, but that is how it is listed by timing in the World Challenge Series. Frank, I would imagine the Team Viper talk is similar to Nascar drivers who drink Coke. There is probably some sharing of ideas going on, but they are all privateers.

 

[Jay Herbert]

I've been getting and posting these.......

PRESS RELEASE
June 26, 2004



PUBLIC RELATIONS CONTACT:
Misha E. Geisert
317-432-4110 Cellular
[email protected]


TEAM VIPER TO START STRONG IN SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT EVENT AT MID-OHIO


Auburn Hills, Mich. - With three cars starting in the Top-10 of Sunday's
Speed World Challenge GT Series event at the Mid-0hio Sports Car Course, Team
Viper will look to capture their first victory of the 2004 season. Mike McCann,
Tommy Archer and Bob Woodhouse will start from the sixth, seventh and eighth
positions, while McCann was also noted as the highest qualifying "Rookie of the
Year" contender.


Over 1/3 of the field will be under Dodge power for the event, as 12 of the
34 entries will compete with Dodge Viper Competition Coupes or Dodge Viper GTS
machines. Competing with the only Viper GTS coupe, rookie driver Mike Hartley
qualified his machine in the 28th starting position.


Complete Team Viper qualifying results are as follows:


Name Qual. Car No. Sponsor/Car Speed


Mike McCann 6 No. 82 McCann Plastics/VCC 91.605 mph
Tommy Archer 7 No. 22 3R-Racing/VCC 91.435 mph
Bob Woodhouse 8 No. 13 Woodhouse Auto Fam./VCC 91.347 mph
Jim McCann 13 No. 83 McCann Plastics/VCC 90.792 mph
Stan Wilson 18 No. 92 Carbotech/VCC 90.111 mph
Rich Marziale 20 No. 56 Dodge/VCC 89.669 mph
Tim Wiens 21 No. 33 3R-Racing/VCC 89.644 mph
Sonny Whelen 23 No. 81 Whelen Eng./Dodge Viper 89.275 mph
Lenny Diller 27 No. 51 King Cole Audio Vis./VCC 87.857 mph
Mike Hartley 28 No. 53 Dezigns, Inc./VCC 87.478 mph
Warren Diller 31 No. 03 King Cole Audio Vis./VCC 86.901 mph
Adel Elsayed 33 No. 02 Automoblox/VCC 85.950 mph
VCC = Viper Competition Coupe


The third round of SCCA Speed GT Challenge competition from the Mid-Ohio
Sports Car Course will air on Speed Channel June 27 at 1:00 PM EST. For more
information regarding Dodge Motorsports or Team Viper, log on to
www.dodgemotorsports.com or www.vipercompetitioncoupe.com. Complete event results are available
at www.world-challenge.com.

 

[Jay Herbert]

June 26, 2004
Immediate Release


3R-Racing Qualifies Seventh, Thirteenth and Twenty-first for Mid-Ohio



Lexington, Ohio - 3R-Racing drivers Tommy Archer, Phil McClure and Tim Wiens had a frustrating qualifying session for round three of the SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge GT series at Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course. The trio qualified seventh, thirteenth and twenty-first respectively.

The mixed layout of the central Ohio road course and its 13-turns buffaloed the 3R drivers in qualifying. The changing track conditions from a rainy Friday practice day made the track surface tough to read.

Tommy Archer, driver of the number 22/c3controls/Whelen Engineering/3RViper will start from the fourth row with a qualifying time of 1:28.902 and 91 mph. "We are battling a handling issue. Mid-Ohio offers a car a lot of understeer, but we have more than the usual amount. Couple that with the changing track conditions and its frustrating. We have a better car than this. There is a mixed group of cars at the front and some good ones starting behind us, so the race should offer plenty of excitement."

"I am not sure what to think," said Phil McClure, driver of the number 73/Aggregate Industries/3R Corvette, after qualifying thirteenth with a time of 1:29.503. "I haven't qualified this poorly in two years. I was full of optimism coming here, now I am just baffled. I ran into a lot of traffic during qualifying, but I didn't think it would set me back as far as it did. The car has good balance so we should be good for the race, although I will have to be cautious at the beginning from my mid pack starting position."

Tim Wiens, driver of the number 33/1st Interstate Inns/3R Viper, also had a difficult qualifying session, with a twenty-first starting position and a time of 1:30.678. "The car and team is better than this. It is disconcerting to be out qualified by some of the cars that are ahead of me. We need to get a handle on what this track wants from the Viper to get handling. The 3R guys will make some adjustments and we will be ready race tomorrow."

The race will be run on Sunday, June 27 at 10:10 a.m. and televised on Speed Channel the same day at 1:00 p.m.

Speed GT Top 10 Qualifiers at Mid-Ohio:

1. Michael Galati Audi 1:27.956
2. Randy Pobst Audi 1:28.018
3. Michael Culver Porsche 1:28.306
4. John Heinricy Cadillac 1:28.361
5. Thomas Oates Corvette 1:28.644
6. Mike McCann Viper 1:28.737
7. Tommy Archer 3R Viper 1:28.902
8. Bob Woodhouse Viper 1:28.988
9. Max Angelelli Cadillac 1:29.052
10. Lou Gigliotti Corvette 1:29.124
13. Phil McClure 3R Corvette 1:29.503
21.Tim Wiens 3R Viper 1:30.678

For more information reference the team web site at www.3r-racing.com or contact Kyle Chura at [email protected] or (248) 821-0468.

 

[gowings]

Take em' out boys!!!

 

[kaval]

Let's kick some ****!

 

[ViperRay]

Congrats to Tommy Archer, 4th in race and now 3rd in points. Nice finish by Mike McCann (9th). What happened to Bob Woodhouse after 19 laps?

 

[DEVILDOG]

What kind of rule limits did they put on the Comp Coupes to make them slower than Audis and Caddys? Makes me sick to see these cars beat a Viper.

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

***** got punted in the butt by the Blue Porsche that eventually went flying off on his own. BW lost all gears except 4th and was black flagged for leaving parts all over da place. He was in the pits for 5 laps and motored around to finish in 25th, which was not fun after running 12th most of the race. I am sure he will post a more acurate account later, but that was the little bit I could glean to this point. Congrats to Tommy and Mike M., for their good runs and strong recovery for Mike after he went agricultural for a bit - way to go guys!!!

 

[Steve-Indy]

Sorry about Bob's problem...but it WAS GREAT to see ALL those Vipers in the field !!!!

 

[Bugeater]

I think the CC's have to run sh1tty sized 275's up-front.
lol. 275 fronts. That *****.

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

You got it Bugeater, and the Audis get huge rubber up front! Makes sense, doesn't it --- Factory Team against Privateers. Looks like without the 13 Viper Privateers, there would have been a pretty small turnout? Wonder if we will see some priorities change in the future?!

 

[Viperfreak2]

Not to totally change the subject, but what happened to the Viper in the American LeMans series? I heard a blurb at the beginning of the race about blowing two engines? Was this a CC or a GTS-R or what?
IT'S TIME to have something other than C5-R's at the top.

 

[Saleen-Explorer]

What kind of rule limits did they put on the Comp Coupes to make them slower than Audis and Caddys? Makes me sick to see these cars beat a Viper.

I agree, it's pathetic, and obviously shows the Viper is a better car. One question, why do they keep handicapping the CC, if the comp coupe is better, well tough ****...competitors need to build something that can compete, look at what the CC can do even when it's handicapped. Put it on the track the way it's meant to be and it would be like ****** out there.

 

[ChrisGTS]

Viper freak -- the Carsport America Viper in the ALMS race blew an engine before the race. This is an old ORECA-built GTS-R, the Comp Coupe is not homologated for competition in the ALMS.
I agree we need some competition for the Corvettes, perhaps Dick Barbour's Lambos can do it. Or someone could just sponsor the Prodrive-built Ferrari 550's, they can keep up with the Corvettes any day with the right drivers.

 

[SnakeBitten]

I agree we need some competition for the Corvettes, perhaps Dick Barbour's Lambos can do it.

Watched the race this last Sunday at Mid Ohio....the Lambo came in 4th in its first race...almost came in 3rd but the Saleen got him....This car will only get better...Before long I think the Lambo will be serious comp for the Vettes..

Im still shocked that the Saleens arent any competition for the Vettes....When the GTS class had the Oreca Vipers running loose with the Vettes etc it was the most exciting class to watch even though the Oreca's cleaned house...At least it was competitive...The Prototype and GT classes are just too predictible...You know Audi and Porsche are gonna win 95% of the time..We need Oreca Vipers back in GTS...Hell I think if they even come back with the old GTS's they will clean house much less the Comp Coupe...

 

[luc]

Paul was also running 275 front rubber last year at the laguna race and that didn't stop him from winning.
May be that go to show how an extraordinary driver he was.

Luc.

00GTS

 

[Rich Wesorick]

No question Paul was an incredible driver. However, the GT are faster now than last year, but no meaningful improvements have been given to the Vipers, whereas Audi was allowed to change from 275's all around to 305's.

 

[Hisserman]

Running 305's doesn't help when the Comp Coupes are getting pulled down the straightaway! Seems the coupes are being handicapped in other ways . . .

 

[Mike H]

The problem is not just the tires, but the weight. The increase from last years weight of 3100 to 3200 does not help cornering speed or the braking. Additionally the splitter was pulled back from 4 inches to 80mm, which is near 3 inches. All these things are affecting the cars performance, getting into and out of the corners as fast as the Audi's.

 

[pdmracing]

What kind of rule limits did they put on the Comp Coupes to make them slower than Audis and Caddys? Makes me sick to see these cars beat a Viper.

I agree, it's pathetic, and obviously shows the Viper is a better car. One question, why do they keep handicapping the CC, if the comp coupe is better, well tough ****...competitors need to build something that can compete, look at what the CC can do even when it's handicapped. Put it on the track the way it's meant to be and it would be like ****** out there.

Could it be that there is no street equivilent Viper Coupe? All of the other cars on the grid can be bought in any showroom, they may me heavily modded, but you can buy one. The reason the CC is handicaped is that it is a purpose built race car that has no street car counterpart. If a coupe becomes available as a street car, then the argument can begin about more modifications. The fact that the CC is allowed to run in a production based series is amazing in its own right. I am sure audi, porsche & all the others screamed long & hard when the CC showed up.

 

[Rich Wesorick]

My guess is that there are more production parts (from an SRT-10) on a CC than are on either the Audi's or the Caddy's. Ask anyone who has seen them up close - they're practically Trans-Am cars! The only handicap dealt to the CC is the front tires and its weight. With Tommy taking 3 straight 4th place finishes, SCCA has the CC right where they want it (unfortunately...).

Rich

 

[Hisserman]

You can be assured that there is no street production version of those Audi's, Caddies, or BMW's either. As Rich says, when you see them close up they are totally purpose built shells of the production cars that they are supposed to represent. It wouldn't be any harder to street qualify a Comp Coupe than any of the others.

 

[pdmracing]

Thats not the point. You can buy a porsche gt3 , you can buy an audi rs6, you can buy a caddy zo6, you cant buy a viper coupe for the street, PERIOD. No one said they were stock cars, nor should they be. You want stock based cars, look to grand am, where the CC isnt allowed.

To say the CC is a privateer effort is also a misnomer. Are the porsche GT3's privateer efforts? Campained by privateers, yes. Built & fabricated in your shop, no way. All the enginnering might behind porsche & DC go into the cars that they sell you to race. The fact is they are race cars built & sold & supported by a manufacturer for a resonable cost(comparitively speaking) is a great thing for all fans. It also fill out the fields which have been lacking in past years compared to the touring cars.

Am I happy the CC is racing , sure I am, I am a viper fan ,I wish Dodge would sponsor a WC team instead of the drifting team. But as a racer & a race fan, quit the complaining, the fact they let the CC play at all is a good thing.

 

[Rich Wesorick]

Whatever... None of the GT cars are close to their supposed showroom equivalents anymore anyway, and I do not believe SCCA is any harder on the CC becuase there is no showroom model. SCCA knows the CC has a lot going for it (like tons more displacement than the M3 that won several races last year) and is going to ease into giving the CC things that will improve its performance until they fully understand its potential. All I've tried to do is despel the notion that the CC is severely handicapped in WCGT, which it is not. However, at this point, it is barely capable of winning a race, which is unfortunately right where SCCA wants it.

In pro racing, there are only two categories you fit into - those who are winning (and are silent), and those who aren't winning and are complaining in order to effectuate change so that they can win. If you're losing and silent, you will continue to lose (which most pros can't live with).

Rich

 

[pdmracing]

As far as the scca rules, there is a difference between street based cars & allowed purpose built race cars. The old gts cars can make more mods to the engine than the CC. I think that the strong showing last year was the reason that the adjustments happened, just like the caddies. Winning in the 3rd race on an privateer effort sort of sealed the CC fate.I doubt very much the SCCA has some grand conspirocy going on. With the state of affairs in US motorsports right now, all the org.s need as much participation as possible. Before the CC the average field in WC GT was around 20 cars, compared to the 50 plus entrants trying to qualify for the Touring races. More entrants = more money for all.